Krýsuvík

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Krýsuvík in winter
Seltun
Seltún from the Krýsuvíkur Church
Krýsuvík
At Kleifarvatn
Fúlipollur mud pot
Krýsuvíkurkirkja
The Maar Grænavatn near Krýsuvík
Seltun high temperature area

Krýsuvík is a volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland . It is located in the south of the peninsula at the junction of Krýsuvíkurvegur T42 from Suðurstrandarvegur S427between the towns of Grindavík and Hafnarfjörður . In addition, such a small farm is called on the edge of Gestsstaðavatn.

The Krýsuvík volcanic system

To the north lies the Krýsuvík volcanic system and geothermal area (also spelled: Krísuvík ), which is also known as the Trölladyngjavulkansystem in reference to its central volcano, the Trölladyngja shield volcano, west of the Kleifarvatn . It is located in the south of the peninsula on the rift zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that diagonally crosses Iceland.

High temperature areas

The high temperature area near the Krýsuvík farm is also called Austurengjar . This is an active volcano. This can be recognized by the solfataras of Seltún and another nearby area with hot springs, as well as the solfataras on the mountain slopes of Sveifluhál . At a depth of 1000 m the temperature is already 200 ° C.

This made it easy to make the high-temperature area of ​​energy production usable. A borehole was drilled in the 1990s and supplied the town of Hafnarfjörður with energy. In 1999, however, the facility exploded and the geothermal area has not been used commercially since then.

However, the area is now somewhat developed for tourism. Wooden walkways lead to the bubbling mud pots. Marked hiking trails also lead up to the mountain behind, Sveifluháls , on the slopes of which you can also see fumaroles . The hiking trails lead to small lakes north of the high temperature area.

Eruption story

Some smaller lakes also indicate volcanic origins, such as the Grænavatn , a water-filled maar that owes its bright color to the diatomite contained in the water . It is the largest of a total of 8 water-filled explosion craters. It has a diameter of 300 m and a depth of up to 34 m. The xenolites (foreign rocks) from Olivingabbro found in the tephra deposits suggest that the explosions were triggered at a greater depth of two to three kilometers.

A larger series of eruptions in the Krýsuvík volcanic system took place between 1151 and 1188, the so-called Trölladyngja fire . The lava fields created at that time u. a. Ögmundarhraun and Kapelluhraun , which extends to today's place Hafnarfjörður, covered 36 km². They had their origin in a system of columns that extends over a length of 28 km.

Probably the last eruption in this volcanic system took place in 1340.

On the other hand, there was an explosion in a borehole in 1999, in which the hot clay fragments were hurled up to 2 km through the air.

The Kleifarvatn lake

(see also main article Kleifarvatn )

The largest lake in the area, Kleifarvatn , which is adjacent to the high-temperature area, suddenly began to shrink after a severe earthquake in 2000 and partially seep into the ground. In the meantime (2009) it has filled up again. The crevices below have apparently closed again. The lake is known for such processes.

The Krýsuvík farm

In the 19th century there was a hamlet consisting of several farms. At that time these were all still managed, but became uneconomical over time. The last farm was finally abandoned in the 1950s. Only a few ruins can be seen today.

Some of these ruins still come from a courtyard that was destroyed in the eruptions in the 12th century. Today there is a farm with several greenhouses.

A little to the side is a former school, a large building that still indicates the formerly dense settlement. Today the school houses a clinic for addicts.

A small wooden church from 1857 was declared a national heritage of Iceland and was a listed building. It burned down completely on the night of January 2, 2010.

Bird rocks Krýsuvíkurbjarg

On the south coast, not far from the village, lies the Krýsuvíkurbjarg cliff , which is used by large colonies of birds for breeding in summer. Especially gulls and puffins can be seen here.

See also

Web links

Photos and videos

Commons : Krýsuvík  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Scientific contributions

Other

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ So called z. B. the Icelandic geologist Ármann Höskuldsson the volcanic system. See: Thor Thordarsson, Armann Hoskuldsson: Classic Geology in Europe 3, Iceland . Harpenden 2002, p. 14
  2. ↑ Thor Thordarsson, Armann Hoskuldsson: Classic Geology in Europe 3, Iceland . Harpenden 2002, p. 70
  3. ^ A b c Thor Thordarsson, Armann Hoskuldsson: Classic Geology in Europe 3, Iceland . Harpenden 2002, p. 70
  4. ^ Krýsuvík in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English), accessed on May 22, 2010
  5. ↑ cf. z. B. flensborg.is ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved on February 20, 2011, isl. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.flensborg.is
  6. ↑ Amy Clifton: Reykjanes Field Trip. Tectonic-magmatic Interaction in an Oblique Rift Zone . (PDF) norvol.hi.is, p. 5
  7. ↑ Node: Krýsuvík (2814568968). Retrieved August 29, 2019 .
  8. ↑ mbl.is

Coordinates: 63 ° 53 ′  N , 22 ° 4 ′  W